Hybrid-Electric Plane Maker Announces First U.S. Factory

A French startup developer of hybrid-electric aircraft plans to build a 500,000-square-foot airplane factory along Florida’s Atlantic Coast — its first facility in the U.S.

Aura Aero on Thursday announced its pick of Daytona Beach International Airport as its U.S. headquarters, including a new $172 million production and assembly plant that is expected to eventually create around 1,000 jobs.

The company had indicated that it would pick a site in Florida earlier this year.

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Aura’s plane, named the Electric Regional Aircraft, or ERA, uses a combination of jet fuel and electric propulsion that it says slashes carbon emissions by nearly 80% compared to conventional regional jets. It can travel up to 900 nautical miles with either seating for 19 or capacity for up to 1.9 tons of cargo. It can recharge on a range of charging stations, as well as in as little as a half-hour on Aura’s chargers.

The company reportedly has secured some $9 billion in orders for more than 600 ERA planes to date. The Daytona plant would supply around 100 planes each year to the company’s U.S. customers. Aura expects to begin construction in Daytona Beach in 2026, start operations at the plant in late 2028, and make its first deliveries from it in early 2029.

Aura is also currently building a 10,000-square-foot hangar at the nearby campus of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University that it said will house “electric aircraft development activities.”

The company expects the ERA to make its debut flight in 2026 and enter service two years later.

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